• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.369-387
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• 2012

Throughout intensive negotiations on the KORUS FTA and even after its ratification on March 15, 2012, ISD (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) has been at the center of many controversies within the FTA. Although the original function of the ISD is intended to be a protectional measure for foreign investors, there have been many foreign investors who tried to use the ISD as a tool to attack a government and nullify the public policy demanding tremendous amount of compensation. Many of the NAFTA ISD cases including Ehtyl v. Canada and UPS v. Canada demonstrate such a behavior by foreign investors. It is the right time for Korean government to conduct in depth studies on NAFTA ISD cases because the precedents provide invaluable insights including the legal reasoning by the decision making authorities including ICSID and UNCITRAL. The lessons we would learn from those cases would prepare Korean government for expected ISD claims by foreign investors and enable the government to maximize its efficiency in policy making process under a new international trade environment, the KORUS FTA.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.134-144
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• 2010

In China, the enhancement of water services has become the most crucial issue confronted with the rapid urbanization and industrialization process. A huge financial gap to meet the demand for water infrastructure and need for adopting advanced operation technology precipitated the rapid growth of PPP over the last 10 years. Diverse schemes of PPP such as TOT, Divestiture, and Management Contract and Lease have been practiced. Local governments and private investors/operator have adjusted their objectives and strategies to avoid potential pitfalls behind BOT projects in China. However, current academic research outcomes do not properly reflect important issues of BOT projects or related case studies in China. This limitation has brought in the lack of assessment of important risks and success factors required for the improvement of the body of risk management. In this regard, this study uses the market analysis method to identify major schemes of PPP water projects and conducts case studies on five PPP projects to identify key risk and success factors in association with each different scheme. It is expected that the risk and success factors identified from the cases will be used as reference to Korean companies which plan to enter the Chinese water market.

• Journal of the Korean Society of International Agriculture
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.328-338
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• 2018

Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) is a hot and arid continental climate, with most areas (68%) consisting of barren vegetation, desert, and meadows. The main agricultural areas for crop production include irrigated farmland, non-irrigated farmland, grassland, prairie and mountain. We are experiencing climate change with recent climate variability increasing. Agriculture is one of major economic sectors and provides a means of livings for the rural population of Central Asia, especially the poor. In the past two decades, Central Asia has experienced a high population growth rate, with Kazakhstan at 16.8%, Uzbekistan at 34.5% and Kyrgyzstan at 28.4%. As a major industry, Kazakhstan has the largest share of exports of agricultural products followed by petroleum, mineral resources, steel, and chemicals. Uzbekistan is the fifth largest cotton exporter as well as the sixth largest cotton producer in the world. Kyrgyzstan exports ores, stones, cultured pearls, and minerals. These three countries are rich in mineral resources, agricultural products, and energy resources. However, not only do they have difficulties in economic development due to the weakness of logistics and industrial infrastructure, but they also have imperceptible cooperation and investment among countries due to insufficient research and development. Through this study, we will investigate national outlook, economic indicators, major agricultural products, import and export status, and agricultural technology cooperation status, and study how Korean agricultural industry advances into these countries through SWOT analysis. Through this, we hope to contribute to the basic data of Central Asian studies and cooperation and investment in agriculture in each country. In addition, in order to increase cooperative exchange and investment in these countries, we will prepare a Central Asia logistics hub for the rapidly changing interKorean railroad era.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.3-34
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• 2018

Korea's air transport industry has a 70-year history since Korea National Airline was establishment in October 1948. Korea has 9 airlines which have international air transport business licenses, and as of 2017, air transport performance(Domestic & International) is ranked 8th in the world. Through analysis of Korea's air transport industry, this paper examines the essential problems of the domestic air transport industry and what policies and laws should be supplemented, and presents an "Policy Directions for the Air Transport Industry" that can continue to grow into a global aviation leading country in the future. Analysis of aviation statistics shows that the nation's air transport industry has a very high growth rate, and national airlines continue to invest in sustainable growth. Furthermore, new companies are also trying to enter the market. As of November 2018, four companies applied for licenses for international air transport business, one for international air transport business (cargo) license, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is expected to decide whether to issue the license by first quarter of 2019. While some expect price reductions and consumer benefits through competition promotion, others worry about worsening airline financial structures and reducing safety investment due to competition. To sum up the problems of the nation's air transport industry, first, low-cost airlines focus only on attracting domestic demand, and thus have a weak foundation for continued growth. Second, the rapid growth in recent years has led to the lack of aviation professionals such as pilots and technicians and the saturation of slots at major airports. Third, since the financial soundness of airlines is not systematically managed, the financial situation of airlines can quickly deteriorate and the damage can be attributed to consumers. In order for the national airlines to continue to develop, the first is to focus on the endless demand of the global aviation market and to secure international competitiveness. Second, the government should support the airline infrastructure according to the size of the air transport industry, third, we will systematically nurture aviation experts who will lead the future of the nation's air transport industry, and finally, the government will have to continuously manage the financial status of airlines to prevent consumer damage in advance. Nowadays the air transport industry has become very competitive. Not only do airlines have to work hard for the sustainable development of national airlines, but all government agencies must support our airline companies in policy to win international competition.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.115-133
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• 2021

This study examines the concept and related technologies of the 4th industrial revolution that has been mixed so far and examines the socio-economic changes and influences resulting from it, and the cases of responding to the 4th industrial revolution in major countries. Based on this, by deriving SWOT factors and calculating the importance of each factor for Korean venture companies to prepare for the forth industrial revolution, it was intended to help the government and policymakers in suggesting directions for establishing related policies. Furthermore, the purpose of this study was to suggest a direction for securing global competitiveness to Korean venture entrepreneurs and to help with basic and systematic analysis for further academic in-depth research. For this study, a total of 21 items derived through extensive literature research and data research to understand what are the necessary competency factors for internal and external environmental changes in order for Korean venture companies to have global competitiveness in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution. After reviewing SWOT factors by three expert groups and confirming them through Delphi survey, the importance of each item was analyzed by using AHP, a systematic decision-making technique. As a result of the analysis, it was shown that Strength(48%), Opportunity(25%), Threat(16%), Weakness(11%) were considered important in order. In terms of sub-items, 'quick and flexible commercialization capability', 'platform/big data/non-face-to-face service activation', and 'ICT infrastructure and it's utilization' were shown to be of the comparatively high importance. On the other hand, in the lower three items, 'macro-economic stability and social infrastructure', 'difficulty in entering overseas markets due to global protectionism', and 'absolutely inferior in foreign investment' were found to have low priority. As a result of the correlation verification by item to see differences in opinions by industry, academia, and policy expert groups, there was no significant difference of opinion, as industry and academic experts showed a high correlation and industry experts and policy experts showed a moderate correlation. The correlation between the academic and policy experts was not statistically significant (p<0.01), so it was analyzed that there was a difference of opinion on importance. This was due to the fact that policy experts highly valued 'quick and flexible commercialization', which are strengths, and 'excellent educational system and high-quality manpower' and 'creation of new markets' which are opportunity items, while academic experts placed great importance on 'support part of government policy', which are strengths. The implication of this study is that in order for Korean venture companies to secure competitiveness in the field of the 4th industrial revolution, it is necessary to have a policy that preferentially supports the relevant items of strengths and opportunity factors. The difference in the details of strength factors and opportunity factors, which shows a high level of variability, suggests that it is necessary to actively review it and reflect it in the policy.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.144-152
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• 2021

Based on the analysis of the current state of the world's foundry industry, we looked at the international competitiveness of Korea's foundry industry for the past 20 years. Korea's total foundry production is 2.52 million tons, and the production per company (so-called productivity) is 2,831 tons, which is the eighth largest in the world and down one position for the case of total foundry production, while productivity remains its position compared to three years ago. Korea is the only one of the top 10 foundry to see a decline in production. Similar to the global situation, Korean products consist of 38% of grey csat iron, 31% of ductile cast iron, 15% of aluminum, and 9% of cast steel. In order to obtain statistics on Korea's foundry industry, the survey conducted a service project for approximately nine months from April 2020. Various statistical surveys and sample in-depth surveys by the Korean standard industry class were evaluated for various contents of the domestic casting industry. We also looked at the number of companies, the distribution by region, the number of workers and the percentage of foreigners, and the distribution of each job, as well as the R&D investment status according to the size of the enterprise. Together, sales, exports, sales and various profit ratios were analyzed to measure the earning power of foundry industry. In addition, the classification by grouping the foundry industry according to the process utilized by focusing on each company, and to determine the sales, exports, and yield status for each process was also investigated on the basis. Based on these data, the domestic foundry industry has presented a variety of offers for the following issues for sustainable growth; global ranking, marginal corporate restructuring, training of domestic technical people, differentiated support policies by company size and process.